


The moon when I'm lost in darkness

by Stiinescense



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Hurt Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27338068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stiinescense/pseuds/Stiinescense
Summary: Nicky didn’t know how long it had been. There was no light in the small cell he was kept in. Even if there was, he wouldn’t see it.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79





	The moon when I'm lost in darkness

Nicky didn’t know how long it had been. There was no light in the small cell he was kept in. Even if there was, he wouldn’t see it. There were shackles around his wrists that were too tight, constantly gnawing at his skin. He was hungry, all the time. He could feel his ribs sticking out more prominently now. That and his outgrown hair were the only indications of time passing.   
They came for him sometimes. More at the beginning, whenever that was. First it had been interrogations, beatings. Nicky remembers he had been telling them off, trying to distract his captors while he waited for rescue or a chance to fight back and escape. Neither ever came.  
After a while (weeks, months?) they didn’t ask questions anymore. It was only torture. They did different things, sometimes just normal beatings, sometimes things Nicky doesn’t want to recall. They drugged him, blurring days together and delaying his healing. He was still healing, but it took hours or days at a time. Starving didn’t help. They had covered his eyes, so he knew even less about the time passing during his captivity.  
After some time, Nicky was left mostly alone. He didn’t know if it was another torture method or if they just got bored of him, too tired and weak to even scream properly. He had learned to take his blindfold of in the cell, so they resolved to stabbing his eyes. It took too long to heal, several days or even weeks.   
He wasn’t sure if there was any hope left. When he felt the worst, sobbing without any tears coming out from his violated eyes, he thought of Joe. Sometimes it helped, sometimes it made everything a hundred times worse. He needed the consolation, but he didn’t want to think about how Joe was feeling, where ever he was.

\---

Nicky had been taken during a mission. Joe would never forgive himself for that. They had separated for fifteen minutes, and during that time, something had happened.  
They started searching immediately. The first days went in a blur, searching for clues, following tire tracks, anything to lead them to Nicky. They worked around the clock, knowing that every hour they could be taken Nicky farther and farther away from them.   
The first week went by. They were all exhausted, him, Andy, Nile and Booker. They had to get some sleep to stay sane, but Joe couldn’t settle down for more than a few hours at a time. He couldn’t stop, while he didn’t know what was happening to Nicky.  
After the first few weeks, they were all becoming nervous. Joe had an unfamiliar tension on his shoulders. It had been hundreds of years since he and Nicky had been separated for this long. They were still searching around the clock, grasping at any leads they could find. But is was becoming desperate. They hadn’t found anything that could help them, or even point them at the right direction.   
After two months, they found the first prominent lead. It was an address, not too far from where they were staying. They gathered their gear and went to check it out together, just in case. The address led them to an old industrial building, that had been out of use for a while. They didn’t get further than the lobby when they found what had clearly been left for them to find: a photograph.   
It was of Nicky. He was lying on the floor, gagged and blindfolded, covered in blood and bruises. So much bruises that with their rapid healing, shouldn’t even be possible.  
Joe broke down. He had been on the edge for so long, only holding himself together to keep searching. He was hopeless. He cried and cried, cursed at God for doing this to him and yelling at Andy for not doing more. He fell to the floor and sobbed. Andy sat on the floor next to him, hugging him. They stayed like that for a long time. 

\---

It had been five months. They had fallen into a routine with the searching. They took turns, giving each other time to do normal things. It was good for Joe. After the photo, he had been in a really bad place for weeks. The photo confirmed all of their worst fears: Nicky was indeed being kept somewhere and getting tortured. They had examined the photo thoroughly, but it didn’t lead them anywhere. They were back on square one.   
It was Booker’s and Andy’s turn to do the searching for the day, as Joe was cooking with Nile. A phone rang and Booker answered it casually. After a few seconds of silence, his face went pale. Urgently he rose to his feet, walked to Joe and gave the phone to him.  
“It’s Nicky”  
Joe grabbed the phone so fast that it almost fell to the floor.   
“Nicky?”, he whispered to the phone, unable to believe he was really calling. There was a long silence, but then Joe heard silent sobbing from the other side.  
“Joe, is that you?”, Nicky asked, voice sounding hoarse.   
“Yes, habibi, my love, I’m here. I’m here”, Joe assured, tears already streaming down his face. “Where are you? Are you okay, are you hurt? We’re coming for you, I promise”, Joe kept gabbling.   
“Yusuf, I miss you”, Nicky says with a shuddering breath.   
“I miss you too. You’re all I think of, we are looking for you day and night. Do you know where you are?”, Joe asks.  
“I can’t tell you, they, they’ll… I’m so sorry.”, Nicky says, his sobs becoming louder.  
“Okay, it’s okay Nicky. You don’t have to tell me anything”, Joe assures him.   
“I’m so tired, Joe”  
“I know, Nicky. I’m so sorry, we’re doing everything we can”  
“Remember our first wedding?”  
“Of course, how could I ever forget?”  
“I’ve been thinking about it. It’s such a nice memory”, Nicky says, words slurring a bit.  
“Yes, yes it is”, Joe says, unable to hold his own sobs. The line goes silent for a while.  
“Nicky?”, Joe calls.  
“I have to go now. I love you”, Nicky says, and the call ends.


End file.
